Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, with Police Chief Charlie Beck to his left, announces the city of Los Angeles had his lowest crime rate in 50 years at a press conference Wednesday. (Photo by Tyrone D. Washington, Mayor’s Office)
Story Created:
Jan 7, 2010 at 12:51 PM PST
Story Updated:
Jan 10, 2010 at 10:06 PM PST
Crime rates in Los Angeles in 2009 were the lowest in 50 years, despite the economic downturn, the mayor and police chief announced Wednesday.
“From the Valley to Boyle Heights, from West L.A. to South L.A., the results have proven indisputable,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at police headquarters.
“Last year, our homicide rate was the lowest in absolute numbers since 1967 [and] fewer Angelenos were victims of robbery and assault,” Villaraigosa said. “Thanks to the remarkable work of our police officers [and] our comprehensive gang reduction plan, our city continues to experience the lowest crime rates in over 50 years.”
Police Chief Charlie Beck said the city had 314 homicides in 2009, an 18.01 percent decline compared to the year before and a 35.79 percent decline since 2005.
Rapes declined 8.2 percent; robberies, 9.3 percent; and aggravated assaults, 12.4 percent, during the same period.
Among property crimes, burglaries fell 7.7 percent and auto thefts plunged 19.6 percent in 2009, compared to 2008.
Overall, violent crimes dropped 10.8 percent, while property crimes dropped 8.0 percent.
The combined decline in violent crimes and property crimes — dubbed by the FBI as Part I crimes — was 8.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the total number of shooting victims dropped 19.9 percent compared to 2008 and by 41.93 percent compared to 2005.
“Amazing numbers,” Beck said. “As a matter of fact, the last time that our Part I crime was at this total number — which is 116,900 — William Parker was the chief of police. Put that in perspective.”
Parker headed the Los Angeles Police Department in 1950-1969.
Typically, crime rates rise when the economy goes south, but Los Angeles’ crime rates continued to drop in 2009 even though unemployment hit 13.4 percent.
It “boggles the mind,” Villaraigosa said, adding the city seems as safe now as it was when he was a 7-year-old boy shining shoes and selling newspapers at the corner of Fifth and Broadway in 1960.
Beck responded: “It’s inexplicable why these crime numbers are so good, except for one thing: cops count; effective policing matters.”
He added the decline in crime allowed police to focus on solving open cases and preventing new ones.
“As of November, this city has cleared 83 percent of its homicides,” Beck said. “No big city does that. The national average is in the 60s.”
Beck credited the city’s multipronged strategy for dealing with gangs, which usually account for about half the homicides in the city.
He said effective policing, gun buyback programs, and gang prevention and intervention programs all helped reduce gang homicides by 15.6 percent in 2009, compared to 2008.
LAPD’s Central Bureau, which includes downtown Los Angeles, posted the largest decline in crime rates — 13.1 percent last year compared to the year before.
During the same period, the Valley Bureau’s overall crime rate fell 8.5 percent; South Bureau, 7 percent; and West Bureau, 5.9 percent.
Beck said “This police department, despite the mayor’s best efforts, will never be big enough in my lifetime. It just can’t happen. So we have to be very smart about what we do, we have to be very effective about how we program. We have to know our business, and that’s been the change.
“Even though these are difficult times, even though the economy is making families struggle and the job market is making people’s futures less certain, that is not a reason to give up on this city.”
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